What is the ideal computer for running Zerene?

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curt0909
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Post by curt0909 »

Rik is correct regarding my settings. I'll test this again, hopefully tonight, with the recommended settings.

Macrolab- those numbers are astounding! I'm hoping I can achieve something close that

MacroLab3D
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Post by MacroLab3D »

I am new to this staff and never touched default settings. But here is my settings just in case http://fex.net/get/286153277468/6554171 Hope it helps.
Last edited by MacroLab3D on Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

MacroLab3D wrote:I am new to this staff and never touched default settings.
Then I'm thinking that you're using a Pro-type license. The default in that case is to turn on I/O overlap. I'm still surprised that the cpu utilization is so high, however. What do you have for an I/O system?

--Rik

MacroLab3D
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Post by MacroLab3D »

rjlittlefield wrote:
MacroLab3D wrote:I am new to this staff and never touched default settings.
Then I'm thinking that you're using a Pro-type license. The default in that case is to turn on I/O overlap. I'm still surprised that the cpu utilization is so high, however. What do you have for an I/O system?

--Rik
You right. It is PRO version.
Here is all settings http://fex.net/get/771011139539/6590960
Image

austrokiwi1
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Post by austrokiwi1 »

I have a new PC built around an I7 6900K with 64 GB ram. I have been very pleased with the performance but one thng i am noticing is when doing a reasonably sized stack the CPU starts to get a "little" warm. I haven't checked the actaulk temperature when running a stack rather I have observed the Mother boards LED color changes( MB is set to show green for optimal CPU temperature. Orange when warm and red when hot) When running a stack of over 100 individual shopts the MB was red all the time. ( soon as the processing is finished it reverts back to green immediately) The other obvious give away is the rear exhaust fan blows hot air during the processing.

IS this to be expected with zerene? {I am stacking tiff files ( 16 bit) of 128 MB each. Processing time is just under 15 minutes for a stack of 140} Computer is tower cooled
Still learning,
Cameras' Sony A7rII, OLympus OMD-EM10II
Macro lenses: Printing nikkor 105mm, Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G, Schneider Kreuznach Makro Iris 50mm , 2.8, Schnieder Kreuznach APO Componon HM 40mm F2.8 , Mamiya 645 120mm F4 Macro ( used with mirex tilt shift adapter), Olympus 135mm 4.5 bellows lens, Oly 80mm bellows lens, Olympus 60mm F2.8

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

austrokiwi1 wrote:I have a new PC built around an I7 6900K with 64 GB ram. I have been very pleased with the performance but one thng i am noticing is when doing a reasonably sized stack the CPU starts to get a "little" warm...
IS this to be expected with zerene?
Yes. In many situations Zerene Stacker puts a load on the cpu that is not much less than Prime95.

--Rik

austrokiwi1
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Post by austrokiwi1 »

In this thread ( http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... sc&start=0) Chris S states:
In terms of performance problems when running multiple instances of Zerene Stacker, my first thought is to build an efficient machine with eight cores, and dedicate it to stacking. In the case of a dedicated stacking machine, performance for other tacks isn’t very important. (This said, would also want to ask Rik if there is any benefit to assigning individual instances of Zerene Stacker to affinities with cores specific to that instance. But I’ve found that a sufficiently powerful PC can easily handle multiple Zerene Stacker jobs without compromise to other work.

In my workflow, an older, lower-powered laptop controls image acquisition—displaying live view, controlling camera via tethering, collecting images from camera, and sending these images over wireless network to a much more powerful tower PC, which runs the stacks under Zerene Stacker.

In a former workflow, the computer in the position sent stacks to another computer, on which I did final work in Photoshop. But as said, I now find that a single, powerful tower PC is convenient for stacking several images at once, retouching them as necessary, performing post in Photoshop, while doing other work simultaneously.
I would reinforce what Chris S is saying here. I recently built a tower PC meeting the basic point made in the above quote. February last year I went from a old PC to what I thought was a better option(it wasn't) a lap top with 8gb ram and a four core processor. Frequently enough to be an irritant, the lap top would crash when running Zerene. The issue was exactly as Chris has said; heat. However that wasn't the only issue for me. I now only photograph in raw and process with Capture one pro. That application needs a minimum of a 4 core processor and 8 gb ram but works best with more cores, 16 gb ram and a GPU with at least 2 gb ram. The laptop just couldn't handle the demands of Capture one pro and frequently crashed unless I was very careful. So I decided I would assemble a Tower PC specifically to handle photo editing and stacking. At the heart of the new PC is an 8 core processor, supported by more than enough ram and a decent GPU. Cooling was the next consideration. I had never built a PC before and just could not get my head around putting water cooling in a PC. So I went with a tower cooler and multiple intake and exhaust fans( plus a fan dedicated to cooling the HDDs making up a Raid 10 array). I now no longer have any issues with Capture one pro. With zerene I was initially worried that the leds on the mother board were changing to red when stacking. This indicated the CPU temperature was getting above 60 degrees(C). I then monitored the CPU temperature and found it was only getting up to 65 Degrees during a large stacking run. As soon as zerene finished the CPU temperature drops down 38-42 degrees(seemingly immediately). I know with lap tops you can get cooling pads.. but like Chris S I think a dedicated tower PC with adequate cooling( liquid or air) is the best way to go.
Still learning,
Cameras' Sony A7rII, OLympus OMD-EM10II
Macro lenses: Printing nikkor 105mm, Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G, Schneider Kreuznach Makro Iris 50mm , 2.8, Schnieder Kreuznach APO Componon HM 40mm F2.8 , Mamiya 645 120mm F4 Macro ( used with mirex tilt shift adapter), Olympus 135mm 4.5 bellows lens, Oly 80mm bellows lens, Olympus 60mm F2.8

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

Very interesting and useful. What do you find to be an adequate amount of memory for the computer and what specs for the graphics card?

Having spent all my money on lenses recently, it will be a year or two before I can consider upgrading my computer, but when I do, I will do what you and Chris S suggest.

austrokiwi1
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Post by austrokiwi1 »

Lou Jost wrote:Very interesting and useful. What do you find to be an adequate amount of memory for the computer and what specs for the graphics card?........ .
I ended up with overkill on the Ram. MY decision making process ( probably not ideal) is as follows: With cooling in mind I went for a gaming motherboard which had a decent number of PWM fan headers. That board had 8 dim slots( supporting a maximum of128gb of quad channel ddr4 ram) The motherboards manual stated that if all 8 dim slots were filled then extra cooling for the ram sticks would be required... so that saw me decide I would only fill four slots. That brought the maximum ram amount to 64GB. The working from Capture ones requirements I doubled the amount of preferred ram that gave me an indication of 32gb Ram. However I then looked at cost benefit. my aim with the build was to have a computer that would last me five years....without much more expenditure on hardware. So then I looked at what I could spend.. and decided I could save for a couple more months and then go for my maximum (64GB). 64 GB is over kill but it is so nice being able to batch process 200 photos(each 128mb in size) in less than 15 minutes( in comparison the lap top would take over 30 minutes for 50 shots).

As for graphics card I looked at Capture one pros requirements, What was compatible with the mother board and provided potential for 8k support ( I have a 4k monitor) I settled on an RX 480 with 8gb ram..and ended up getting the factory overclocked version simply because it was on special at the time( it was Euro 20.00 less than the non-0c version) Not a particularly well thought out way to pick a graphics card but so far I haven't regretted it
Still learning,
Cameras' Sony A7rII, OLympus OMD-EM10II
Macro lenses: Printing nikkor 105mm, Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G, Schneider Kreuznach Makro Iris 50mm , 2.8, Schnieder Kreuznach APO Componon HM 40mm F2.8 , Mamiya 645 120mm F4 Macro ( used with mirex tilt shift adapter), Olympus 135mm 4.5 bellows lens, Oly 80mm bellows lens, Olympus 60mm F2.8

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

Thanks austrokiwi, sounds like a wonderful system!

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